HARTFORD, CT. – With the generous support of Z-Medica of Wallingford, CT, The Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, the Connecticut ACS Committee on Trauma, and The Connecticut Orthopaedic Society donated two wall mounted Bleeding Control Stations and a Stop the Bleed training kit to CT Department of Public Health on April 25th. The kits contain tourniquets, QuikClot® Bleeding Control Dressing™, protective gloves, and compression bandages and will be installed at DPHs office in Hartford. The training kit will allow DPH staff to conduct their own training classes.

At the same time the group provided Bleeding Control training to over 50 nurses as part of a DPH sponsored in-service training program. In addition to being trained, the nurses are now eligible to be certified as instructors by Stop the Bleed (www.BleedingControl.org) allowing them to provide training in the communities where they live and work across the state.

In April 2013, just a few months after the disaster at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) in collaboration with the medical community and representatives from the federal government, the National Security Council, the U.S. military, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and governmental and nongovernmental emergency medical response organizations convened a Joint Committee to Create a National Policy to Enhance Survivability from Intentional Mass Casualty and Active Shooter Events.

The committee was spearheaded by Connecticut trauma surgeon, Lenworth M. Jacobs, Jr., MD, MPH, FACS, to create a protocol for national policy to enhance survivability from active shooter and intentional mass casualty events. The committee’s recommendations, known as the Hartford Consensus, were published as a series of four reports. The final report, the Hartford Consensus IV, called for a national implementation of standards and protocols. In response to this call, the American College of Surgeons developed training programs and resources under the umbrellas of Stop the Bleed and www.BleedingControl.org to provide a training framework and “a one-stop, online resource to credible information on bleeding control.”

Life threatening emergencies can happen without warning and emergency responders may not be nearby. Bystanders will almost always be first on the scene. Bleeding is one of the most common injuries among victims of an emergency. Rapid loss of blood can result in death within five minutes. Those nearest a person with life threatening injuries are best positioned to provide immediate care and significantly increase a victim’s chance of survival.

Stop the Bleed is the national awareness campaign and call to action aimed at decreasing preventable deaths. Kimberly Davis, MD, FACS, President of the Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, commented “Teaching easy to learn bleeding control techniques empowers individuals to provide immediate response in an emergency. It’s no different than learning how to perform CPR.”

The Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, the Connecticut ACS Committee on Trauma, and The Connecticut Orthopaedic Society partnered with Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center, St. Mary’s Hospital, and Yale New Haven Hospital to provide a special day of Stop the Bleed Training to the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CTDPH).

Inspired by the Stop the Bleed program, the Connecticut State Medical Society (CSMS)has also purchased a Stop the Bleed kit for its office in North Haven. Matthew Katz, EVP/CEO noted “We see this as an important tool to have in every office, just an automated external defibrillator. Bleeding control kits and training are important to treat victims not only of unspeakable tragedies but from everyday accidents.” We will be coordinating a training program with CSMS in the coming weeks so that their staff is trained to “Stop the Bleed”.

The Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Surgeons Professional Association is dedicated to achieving the highest standards of surgical care through education, mentorship, fellowship and advocacy.